Ember: A Heroine's Tail
by Sonic the Shapeshifter
Summary: Ember is underestimated by everyone, and her amazing story was left out of Spyro: A Hero's Tail. Now her story comes into the light.
1. The Dark Gem

Ember: A She-Dragon's Tail

Chapter One: The Dark Gem

Ember walked sullenly through the golden gate by Moneybag's Shop, her tail dragging along the ground behind her. She hadn't seen Spyro for a while. That's what made her so gloomy.

No matter what she did, the purple dragon never even so much as touched noses with her. She didn't understand why he didn't. The last time she'd tried to speak to Spyro, he had run off with Sparx before she could even get near him.

As she walked through the cave, Zoe appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The yellow fairy appeared to be frantic.

"What's wrong Zoe?" Ember asked as the fairy flew over her head.

"Not now, Ember! I've got to get Spyro! Don't go any further down this tunnel, all you'll do is get in trouble!" The fairy warned, then took off down the tunnel behind Ember.

Ember sighed. _"All you'll do is get in trouble."_ The words echoed in her head. "Maybe that's why Spyro doesn't like me." She sighed to herself. Then five other words the fairy had said came into her head. "Going to get Spyro!" She excitedly exclaimed, "Spyro will be there? Then I'm going too!"

With that, she took off down the tunnel. When she ran out, she saw a giant red dragon standing with his back turned to her, behind a tree. He was surrounded by Gnorcs. With a short gasp, the pink kit jumped behind a pile of rocks.

"Stupid old coot," The dragon spat out with venom, "Let's see you get out of this one."

The red dragon then turned to the Gnorcs and murmured something Ember couldn't hear, pointing in front of the tree. Immediately a large, fat, pink Gnorc wobbled over to the indicated spot, carrying a large, dark purple crystallite stone. He slammed it into the ground in front of the tree, then laughed.

But that wasn't the strangest part. Wide-eyed, Ember watched as the bridge to the Crocovile Swamp collapsed, and vines sprang up from the ground. Also, the sky above her turned a shade of purple.

Seemingly satisfied, the red dragon leapt into the air and flew away. The Gnorcs pressed a button in front of the cave that the red dragon had been standing in front of, and ran inside. As soon as Ember was sure that they were gone, she crept out from behind the rocks. Keeping low to the ground, she stalked over to the large crystal sticking out of the ground. Extending a tentative claw, she tapped the crystal, wincing in anticipation as she waited to see if it would try to hurt her. When no pain came, she sat in front of the crystal and looked into it. Her reflection stared back at her, tiny and large surfaces showing images of her face. Ember smiled at the reflections, then gazed deeper into the gem. To her surprise, she saw a dark, smoke-like substance swirling around the base of the gem. As she stared intensely at it, she saw the smoke conform to the shape of a small dragon, charging at something.

"Hey…that looks like Spyro…" Ember murmured.

Entranced, she watched the dark form of the little dragon charging. Suddenly another dragon shape arose, at least a hundred times larger than the tiny shadow dragon. A dark, staff-like object suddenly appeared in its hands. The large dragon pointed the staff at the small dragon, who was still charging unaware of the danger it was in. Something blasted out of the tip of the staff and shot the tiny shadow dragon, hitting it directly between its horns. The small dragon flew backwards and hit an invisible wall, and dropped to the floor on its side.

"No!" Ember yelled out.

The large shadow dragon turned from the small, seemingly unconscious small shadow dragon and stared directly at Ember, it seemed. It pointed its staff at her. With a yelp, Ember backed away from the gem, still staring at the dark dragon in it. Suddenly it and the small dragon disappeared, and the smoke pulsed throughout the gem once more.

"Oh, no. I can't let that happen to Spyro." Ember whispered, convinced that the small dragon was Spyro and the large one was the red dragon she'd seen.

Ember looked around, suddenly remembering the cave the Gnorcs went into. She ran over behind the tree and found the cave. Bars covered the opening. There was no way out. But there was a way in, Ember saw. A stone button rose from the ground. Ember leapt on top of it, waiting for the bars to go down so she could get in. Nothing happened. Ember looked at the side of the button, still standing on top of it. She jumped up and down on the button, but she was too light to press it down. Angry, Ember bounced up and down on it as hard as she could.

"It won't work honey, you're too light." Ember looked up to see a blue Dragon Elder standing behind the bars, in the cave.

"Elder Tomas! You're trapped inside!" Ember exclaimed, "I have to get you out! That crystal over there-"

"All in due time, my dear." Elder Tomas interrupted, "For now, you are still young. You're too small and too light to press that square button into the ground, and I cannot reach it. That crystal," The blue dragon pointed at the dark purple gemstone, "Is a dark gem."

"A dark gem?" Ember asked.

"Yes, it fuels Red's evil power." Elder Tomas exclaimed.

"Who's Red? Wait! Is it that big red dragon I saw?" Ember asked.

"Yes. He wants to control the world. But there is nothing you can do, Ember." Elder Tomas said, not noticing the look of disdain on the pink kit's face, "Now listen, I have a task for you. When Spyro comes, tell him to come to me. He is slightly older and bigger than you are, so he should be able to press down on the button. In the meantime, be on the lookout. We don't want any more Gnorcs to come." Turning, Elder Tomas walked back into the cave, his tail dragging behind him.

Ember watched him walk out of sight, then turned. Annoyed, she muttered, "Nothing I can do. Nothing I can do! There's plenty I can do! I may not be heavy enough to press a button, but I'm strong enough and brave enough to fight alongside Spyro. I'll show everyone not to underestimate me!"

Ember ran over to the dark gem and sat on her haunches, scratching at it. When that didn't work, she got up, turned around, and kicked it. She also bit it, whacked it with her tail, breathed fire onto it, rammed it, and even tried pushing it out of the ground, to no avail. Breathing heavily, she slumped against the gem, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she panted.

"There got to be some way to break this gem." Ember sighed.

Suddenly she saw Spyro walk out of the cave opening, with Sparx flying by his side.

"Spyro!" Ember exclaimed.

The purple dragon froze, knowing it was too late to bolt. She'd seen him. Warily, Spyro walked over to talk to the pink dragon.

"Look at this gem- it's pulsating with evilness! Still, it would look nice on an engagement ring…don't you think, Spyro?" Ember asked, lifting her front paw for Spyro to look at.

"Uh…" The purple dragon replied, uncomfortable.

"You should try to smash it into bits." Ember advised, "Talk to the Dragon Elder to learn how to smash it into bits. I know you'll do it, 'cause you like me." Ember said.

When the purple dragon made no move to see the Elder, Ember said, "Please Spyro, you must smash this gem…into little heart-shaped pieces, if possible."

"Uh…okay." Spyro said. He turned to run past Ember.

"Uh…Spyro?" Ember asked. Spyro stopped and looked at the pink dragon.

"Also…can I come with you?" Ember asked, her blue eyes pleading the purple dragon to say yes.

Spyro shook his head. "Not today, Ember. I've got work to do. I'm sorry, but you'd just get in the way." With that, the purple dragon took off.

"Why don't you go play with Flame, or visit the Nursery?" Sparx suggested, then flew after his best friend.

Hurt that even Spyro didn't believe in her, a tear rolled down Ember's cheek. She shook her head angrily and rubbed the droplet off with her paw. A fiery determination in her eyes, she growled, "I won't get in the way! I know I can help save the Realm!" Ember leapt to the side of the tree, where she saw Spyro press the stone button in the ground. The bars slid down and Spyro walked inside.

Eagerly, Ember charged in after them. She got in just before the bars came back up. Looking back at the dark gem sticking out from behind the tree one last time, Ember turned and looked down the tunnel.

"I'll prove that I can help." Ember said, then took off down the cavern.


	2. Confronting Elder Tomas

Chapter Two: Confronting Elder Tomas

Ember scampered down the tunnel, trying not to make any noise as she hurried after Spyro. She scampered around and into an open section of the cave. There she saw Spyro and Elder Tomas talking.

She almost gasped, but managed to restrain herself, quickly leaping back to avoid being seen. Luckily no one noticed her.

"…But, I'm old, and I take a really, really long time to tell stories…So, why don't I just tell you how to break the Dark Gems?" Elder Tomas was saying.

"Phew, close one," Spyro whispered to Sparx, "Yeah, do that." He said the dragon Elder.

Ember watched closely, listening attentively as Elder Tomas instructed Spyro on how to smash a Dark Gem. Conveniently there was one lodged in the floor in front of Elder Tomas. Ember watched Spyro leap into the air and swirl his wings in a circle as he jumped again, then pointed his head at the ground. These movements caused him to stay for a couple seconds longer in the air, because by moving his wings in a circular fashion he had caused an imbalance of weight, making him flip in a circle before smashing his horns into the gem and smashing it. Ember pulled her head back from the open area she was watching from, behind a curve in the tunnel of the cave. She sat back on her haunches and lifted her front paws up, softly rubbing her horns. She wondered if the pearly, curvy things would be able to stand such abuse. She cast away the thought the second after it came into her mind. She was a dragon and dragon horns and spiny ridges along their backs were hard. Besides, if Spyro could do it, why couldn't she?

She peeped back to see where Spyro was a moment later, only to see him fly from one ledge to another and run out of a cave high in the wall. She then casually walked into the open and sat a few yards in front of Elder Tomas with a small smirk on her face.

"Ember!" Elder Tomas gasped, "What are you doing here?"

Examining a paw, Ember replied, "What is so hard about smashing a Dark Gem that I cannot do it?"

Elder Tomas was quiet for a moment, turning his head to look into the recesses of the light gem in his staff to avoid Ember's accusing eyes.

"You are a female dragon, and a young one at that. Spyro is slightly older, and has had experience with this kind of thing. You, on the other hand…" The dragon Elder trailed off.

"So I'm a girl, that's it? You think I can't do it because I'm a girl?" Ember asked angrily.

"No, that's not it at all, Ember." Elder Tomas sighed, then continued, "At least, not entirely."

"Then why don't you think I can do it?!" Ember demanded.

"Ember, it's not that I think that you can or can't help stop Red from conquering the Dragon Realms. It is the fact that not many dragon females survive when they are born. Female dragons are in fact more delicate than male dragons. They are more susceptible to diseases when young and are somewhat weaker than male dragons. I do not mean to offend you Ember, and do not think I am trying to attack those of your gender. I am just trying to protect you. That is all. If you go after Red, your chances of surviving are-"

"The same as Spyro's." Ember said solemnly, interrupting the dragon Elder, "You know why you think that? Because you've never allowed a female dragon to go and prove you wrong. I may not be as strong as Spyro, but I'm fast, and smart, and strong enough!"

Elder Tomas looked down into the pink dragon's eyes, which seemed to burn with passion at the words she had spoken. "It's no big guess what they named you for." He said, half jokingly. Ember did not laugh. "That is true. No female dragon has ever gone out and tried to save the realm. However, no female dragon has ever really wanted to. Still, I fear for your safety, Ember. Promise me that you'll be careful." Elder Tomas said.

"I promise." Ember said gravely.

"Take some gems with you. It's not much, but it can help you buy supplies from that greedy, money-grubbing Moneybags." Elder Tomas said, walking over to a shelf on the side of the cave. He took down a medium sized box and opened it. Inside, 2,599 gold's worth of gems was inside.

"Wow…you really mean it?" Ember asked.

"Yes." Elder Tomas said.

"Thanks!" Ember said gratefully. She pressed the red heart jewel on her locket and stood next to the chest. The gems inside of the chest rose and, in a swirling motion, flew into the heart locket, which glowed brightly for a moment and then dulled back to normalcy.

"That's an interesting locket you've got there. Normally you have to eat them and keep them in your maw to carry them around." Elder Tomas said, eyeing the locket.

"I've found that this method of gem carrying to be much less uncomfortable." Ember replied with a smile.

"Well, hurry on then. If you want to help defeat Red, you'd better catch up to Spyro." Elder Tomas said.

"Bye Elder Tomas!" Ember called back, flying up onto the first ledge and gliding over to the second one. The second one was slightly harder to get to and she had to scrabble the edge with her hind legs in order to climb onto it. She looked back with a quick smile at Elder Tomas.

"Good luck!" The Elder called to her.

Ember nodded, still smiling, and then ran out of the cave.

"You will need it." Elder Tomas muttered sadly. He turned to another shelf in his cave, plucked out a book titled "The Mystery of the Light Gems", and began to read.

((Sorry I took so long to update, I know you are all probably mad at me for that. I'm running track after school and haven't got much time on my computer any more.

**If you thought I was attacking the female population, sorry. I don't mean to. I'm a girl myself! It's just that I had to give Elder Tomas _some_ reason to not want Ember to go. That foolishness about "More susceptible to diseases"? Made it up. Everyone has the same chance of getting diseases. Hope that covers any complaint you could've had about the chapter, stay tuned for more!**

**-Sonic the Shapeshifter**


	3. Light Gems and Eggs

The Long Awaited Chapter Three: Light Gems and Eggs

Ember raced along the tunnel from Elder Tomas' cave. She had figured out why the older dragon hadn't tried to escape his prison: The tunnel wasn't big enough for a large dragon to fit through. Ember guessed that the Dragon Elder had been able to fit through it when he was younger.

_Wait._ Ember widened her eyes, _Elder Tomas was younger? Perhaps…a dragon kit like me?_ She laughed aloud at the thought as she charged through the tunnel.

Soon she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But she knew she wasn't dying, and she ran eagerly to it. She came out on the edge of a small cliff. Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight, she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Hey, hey!" Hunter called, waving up at Ember.

Ember glided down to greet him. "Hey, Hunter!" She exclaimed.

"Well hi, Ember! What brings you here? You're the last person I'd expect to see charging out of _that_ tunnel." Hunter gestured to the cave mouth above with his bow.

"Elder Tomas just taught me how to smash dark gems." Ember replied.

"Say what?" Hunter asked in confusion.

"Don't tell me," Ember said sarcastically, "You don't think I'm competent enough to fight Red, do you?"

Hunter scratched the back of his neck. "Well, it's not that, Ember, it's just…I never knew you wanted to…oh, forget it. Does Spyro know about this?"

Ember blushed slightly. Luckily, since she was a pink dragon, Hunter didn't notice the slightly darker discoloration in her cheeks. "No, not yet." She said, "Actually, I don't want him to. I figure I can be back up for him. But if he found out he'd probably try to make me go back home. And then I'd never be able to help him! Please don't tell him." Ember said.

Hunter looked directly into Ember's eyes, which had gotten big and pleading. Her pupils were gigantic. "God, how do you dragons _do_ that?" He asked in utter annoyance.

"Are you going to tell him?" Ember asked, still staring up at Hunter with her big, puppy-dog eyes.

Hunter sighed, "I'm probably going to regret this later." He said.

"So, you won't-"

"No." Hunter assured her.

Ember's eyes returned to normal. "Good." She said with a smile.

"I sent Spyro off in search of a dragon egg. I'll open the door for you, but close it after you. I don't want him thinking I tricked him." Hunter said.

"Thanks." Ember said.

Hunter took an arrow out of the pack on his back and fitted it to his bow. Aiming it at the target above the locked tower door, Hunter pulled back the string and let the arrow fly. It hit the target dead in the center, and the door swung slowly open.

Ember darted inside the tower, then turned and started to push the doors closed. Just before she had the doors shut, she winked at Hunter with a smile. Then she closed it completely and trotted down the hall. She came into the circular room with a plant in the middle of it. She loved the décor of the Dragon Village and smiled as she looked up at the tree in the center of it. She started trotting past it when suddenly a tall, muscular blue Gnorc wielding a sword stepped out in front of her.

It jumped up with an excited cry when it saw her, then pointed its sword at her threateningly.

Ember almost turned and ran away. But instead she leapt at the Gnorc, extending her wings and opening her jaws. A bright, orange flame burst forth from her mouth. The Gnorc dropped his blade and screamed, his flesh burning. Ember's eyes watered and she shut them, blowing fire as hard as she could through her mouth and nose. After a few seconds that seemed an eternity to Ember, the Gnorc's dying scream faded away and she stopped blowing fire, unable to keep it going long. She opened her eyes and looked at the floor. A blackened spot on the carpet was the only proof the Gnorc had ever existed. That, and several gems on the floor. Ember stared at the spot for a moment, thinking about the dead Gnorc. It hadn't felt very glorifying to kill. She wondered how Spyro felt about killing the Gnorcs; did he ever feel bad about it? Did he feel triumph at snuffing out the life of another living creature? Then another thought popped into her mind. The Gnorc was going to kill her if she hadn't killed it. And Spyro had only killed because he had to, to protect his life and others. Ember had to protect her own life. And if she hadn't killed the Gnorc, it would've gone on to hurt more dragons. Ember pressed the heart on her locket. The gems rose off of the floor and went into the heart, in a swirling motion. It glowed for a moment, then returned to its natural color once more. No use in wasting gems, Ember decided.

She walked out of the room and into a small courtyard. Without another thought about the Gnorc she killed, she leapt into the small stream below her and bounced across it into the grass. She saw a big, fat, pink Gnorc wielding an ax and wearing armor. It stood on a raised bit of land above her. It saw her and gestured toward her, telling her to come closer. Ember crouched down and stalked toward the Gnorc. She decided that she needed to practice on the Gnorcs to gain experience for when she confronted Red. Once she'd gotten close enough, the Gnorc swung at her. Since she was about as tall as the ledge, the Gnorc missed and sliced through empty air. Even though it had missed the pink dragon, the Gnorc laughed. It obviously didn't give a second thought to whether the dragon lived or died, and probably thought of the kit as an annoying pest to be exterminated. Ember growled at the thought. After the Gnorc swung again, she leapt up and breathed fire at it. She stopped after a couple of seconds when the Gnorc didn't scream, and suddenly the ax landed beside her body. Although it didn't hit her, the shockwave it created sent her flying off of the ledge. She fell on her back and scrambled up as the Gnorc laughed at the pain it had caused her. Any sorrow she had felt about killing was now lost from Ember at the heartlessness of the Gnorc. She saw the armor turning from red to silver again and realized that it must have absorbed her flame breath. As the Gnorc continued to laugh, Ember leapt onto the ledge and charged the Gnorc. Although not harming the pink giant, it caused the armor it was wearing to fall off. As soon as it did, Ember torched the Gnorc. It fell over with a cry, and then disappeared, leaving a dark spot on the ground and some gems as a token of its being there. Ember retrieved the gems, then ran to the other side of the clearing, eager to get away from the site.

When she got to the other side she saw a large machine. Curious, she walked over to it. Suddenly a green light shown down from the top of the machine, and an image of the Professor appeared. The mole was scribbling something onto his notepad.

"Professor!" Ember joyfully shrieked.

The mole jumped at the sudden noise, then turned. "Ember! What're you doing here?"

Ember ignored the question, saying, "What's this machine do?"

"I built it for Spyro. Once he obtains enough fuel to power it, it'll be able to transport him to other sections of the world. I call it 'The Ball Gadget'." The professor replied.

"Can I try it when you're done?" Ember asked.

"I don't want it to break." The Professor said.

"I'll be careful!" Ember replied.

"No, Ember." The Professor said sternly.

"Why?" Ember asked.

"Why do you want to leave Dragon Village in the first place?" The professor asked in reply.

"I'm going to help Spyro defeat Red. And don't try to stop me. Even Elder Tomas thinks I can do it." Ember said.

"How odd." The Professor muttered.

"What?"

"Does Spyro know you're helping him?" Professor asked, suddenly remembering Spyro's previous actions toward the young pink dragon.

"Well…no…but don't tell him. If he knows he'll probably tell me to stay behind. And out of trouble." Ember said the last three words with bitterness, "So could I try your machine?"

The professor looked into Ember's eyes. They were big and wide, with the pupils incredibly large. "GAH! DON'T DO THAT!!!" He yelled, flinging a hand up and covering his eyes.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Ember pleaded.

"OH- fine. But first you need to find something to power it. Umm…" The Professor thought of the hardest things to find, hoping to discourage Ember from leaving the dragon village, "Light Gems. Find Light Gems. Find 10 and I'll let you try the gadget." Professor said. Of course, Light Gems wouldn't _really_ power the machine. He was going to leave it up to Spyro to decide what he'd get to power it.

"Okay. And please don't tell Spyro," Ember said, her eyes big again, "Because _I know where you live._"

"Fine, Ember. Go. I'll open the door to the Nursery for you so you can get to the town."

The door to the Nursery opened, and Ember ran through it, calling a "Goodbye!" over her shoulder. Once she got through it, the door shut again. The green-lighted image of the professor faded away.

Ember walked through the second door and into the Nursery, only to see a little guy wearing a blue cloak too big for him with a big brown hat on his head carrying a dragon egg and being chased by Nanny. The large pink dragon lunged for the little guy, but he jumped out of the way and the dragon fell on her stomach on the floor. The little guy then ran out the door.

"WHY YOU LITTLE THIEF! THIEF! EGG THIEF! YOU COME BACK HERE OR I'LL" Nanny called after the thief, shaking her fist at the door where the egg thief had gone through from her position on the floor. The thief turned the corner and whizzed out of sight. "Stupid thieves…" Nanny muttered angrily. Then she saw Ember in the doorway. "Ember!" She called to the small dragon, getting back up off of the floor and dusting herself off, "What a surprise to see you!"

"Hi Nanny." Ember politely said, walking into the room, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, those thieves have been coming all day, stealing the precious dragon eggs." Nanny said, slumping against the wall in fatigue, "I would've chased them, but I'm too old and slow for that kind of thing any more. I started out with 80 and now all I have left are 6!"

"Oh no!" Ember said.

"Oh no is right," Nanny said with a sigh.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ember asked.

"Well…could you track down the missing dragon eggs for me? If you can bring back all of the eggs to me, I'm sure you'll be rewarded." Nanny said.

"Okay, Nanny." Ember said, "I'll track down those thieves for you!"

"Good luck, Ember. Thank you so much, dear." Nanny said, "Meanwhile I'll take care of the remaining dragon eggs. They won't get another one from me! I can't catch them now, but if I could I would fry, boil, poach, and _scramble_ their little heads!"

"Okaaay…" Ember said, taking a step back from Nanny, then running out the door. "Goodbye!" She yelled back as she ran.

"Goodbye!" Nanny yelled after Ember.

Ember ran out of the Nursery and into the town, heading for the dark gem she'd seen earlier that morning. She did not notice the six egg thieves slinking toward the Nursery from the side.

She charged through the cave tunnel pretty quickly and made it to the gem in no time flat. Just as she was about to jump up and smash it, a purple blur leapt above the gem and smashed it.

The bridge to the Crocovile Swamp became whole again, the evil vines slid back into the ground, and flowers began to spring up from the soil once more. The sky turned to normal above, and Spyro stood in place of the dark gem, with Sparx flying by his side.

"Spyro!" Ember exclaimed in surprise.

"Hi Ember, bye Ember!" Spyro said quickly. He and Sparx turned to run across the bridge to the swamp.

"Wait!" Ember called after them.

Spyro and Sparx stopped, turning to look at her.

"Spyro, don't go in that swamp! If you do…I may never see you again." Ember pleaded.

Spyro sighed. "I'll be fine Ember. I'll see you later." He said, then charged across the bridge.

"But Spyro!" Ember called after him, stepping forward and extending a paw towards the purple dragon as he vanished out of sight. She sighed. "I guess that means I have to go in that messy swamp too." She said sullenly, "Oh well."

She looked up at the sky once more, then charged over the bridge.

Yeah, long chapter, huh? My main goal in this chapter was to get Ember the HECK out of Dragon Village! When Spyro first visits Nanny, you'll notice about six egg thieves leaving the Nursery with eggs. This is why I said she only had six eggs left when Ember came (because Ember got there before Spyro) Hope you enjoyed it, please review!

**-Sonic the Shapeshifter**


	4. The CrovoVILE Swamp Pt 1

And now, for what you've all been waiting for,

The Long Awaited Chapter Four: Entering the CrocoVILE Swamp

Ember ran across the bridge and through the cave until she came to a large gap in the floor. She nearly fell off, stopping at the last second and looking down into the darkness with a gasp. She wondered what she was supposed to do now, when suddenly a giant boulder floated over to her. Ember jumped onto it, and it began to float to the other side. Things like floating boulders were common in the world of dragons, so this didn't seem strange in the slightest to Ember.

When she came to the other side, she jumped off the floating boulder and took off through the rest of the cavern. She came out on the other side to see a big, muddy swamp in front of her. It was quite ugly compared to the pretty areas of the Dragon Village. Ember walked over to the edge and peered down at the muddy abyss below. She accidently kicked a small rock off the side of the little rocky cliff she was on. It fell down onto the muddy ground below. It sat there for a second, then was quickly sucked into the mud. Seeing how fast it had gone in, Ember made a mental note never to fall into it. She backed away from the edge and began walking down the narrow path to the cave at the bottom. A couple large, green vines tried to slap at her as she walked past. She ignored them, keeping out of their reach and walking towards a cave she saw at the bottom of the path. Bats flew out of the cave, screeching, as she walked in.

She was walking at a brisk pace through the cave when suddenly a bunch of pegs with sharpened ends struck out of the wall in front of her nose. Ember froze. The pegs flew back into the wall again. Ember started to step past when the pegs struck out again. Ember waited for a few minutes, getting into the rhythm to which the pegs were striking in and out of the wall. As soon as they went back into the wall, she darted past them, only to have another set of pegs sticking out at her. She made it past that set and darted through the rest of the cave.

Three bats flew in circles above Ember as she walked out of the mouth of the cave. Ember could see several large tree stumps off to her left, and a primitive looking anthropomorphic crocodile holding a bone, patrolling the edge of the swamp to her right. Crocodiles were sworn enemies of dragons. They envied the dragons' ability to fly, and feared their fiery breath. They were known to try and kill dragon kits and steal eggs from nests, only to drop the eggs into the swamp, where, if the dragon kit within the egg cracked a hole in the shell to get out, it would drown and die before ever reaching the surface.

Ember made the decision to take out the crocodile, charging to the right, toward it. The croc saw her coming and raised the bone above his head to strike. Ember skidded to a stop a few feet away from him though, and when he brought the bone slamming down it failed to hit her. Ember blew fire on it, killing it instantly. A pile of gems fell to the ground where it had stood just a moment before. Ember collected them in her locket before moving on. There was no sense in leaving it there, after all.

Two paths lay in front of Ember. She could head along the top of the cliff or go to the second path nearer to the hazardous mud. She chose the latter path as there was another crocodile there. She couldn't stand crocodiles! The green lizard never saw it coming. She rammed into it from behind, making it flip onto its back. It disappeared, leaving gems behind. Ember gathered them up too, wondering how such a weak civilization such as this, dying after a single hit, could survive in such a dangerous environment.

She continued along the lower path, to find a glowing green metal plate lying on the ground. When Ember approached it, an image of the Professor flickered up. The mole seemed to be writing something on a pad of paper.

"Professor?" Ember asked.

"Ember?!" The image of the Professor turned around to look at the young pink dragon kit, "What are you doing here in the swamp?"

"I'm going to find Elder Magnus and get him to teach me some new defenses to help beat Red. And find light gems for you so that the machines will work." Ember replied.

The Professor remembered with a pang that he had tried to send Ember on a wild goose chase for Light Gems before agreeing on them being the ideal power source with Spyro. "Ember, leave this ridiculous quest of yours and come back to the Dragon Village now, before you get yourself hurt." He pleaded.

"No way, are you kidding? If Spyro can go in here, then so can-"

"Ember! Spyro has done things like this before! He has fought evil numerous times! He has experience! You don't!" The Professor snapped at Ember.

"Oh yeah? Well even Spyro had a first time!" Ember shot back.

The Professor flinched. She had a good point there.

"Give me a chance, gosh!" Ember hissed, taking off.

"Ember! Wait!" The Professor shouted, but the pink dragon ran out of site. The Professor shook his head slowly with a sigh, "What am I going to do with these knuckleheaded kits?"

A boomerang exploded beside Ember. A crocodile at the top of a rocky ledge had thrown it at her. She started to come foreword to retaliate when the ancient building beside her began to tremble. She looked to her left to see that a rocky door was crumbling down to let her through. Three blue dragon-like creatures growled and ran towards Ember.

Ember wasn't ready to take on three things at once. She ran over to the ledge and scrambled up, one of the creatures snapping at her tail as she scrabbled over. Ember turned and looked down at the creatures, which were now trying to climb up the ledge too. Luckily for Ember, their forearms were too small and stubby for them to succeed in their attempts. Another boomerang exploded beside her, making her jump. Ember turned and looked up to see the crocodile at the top of the highest ledge, waving another boomerang at her in warning, his mouth hanging open and a crazy look in his eyes. Ember backed up to the second ledge, trapped between a homicidal crocodile and three rock-for-brains dragon half-breeds. The crocodile threw his boomerang at her again, but missed, hitting the top of the ledge above her instead. Immediately Ember leapt up and over the second ledge, darting close to the crocodile on the third ledge above. It threw the boomerang down at her, but it exploded on the top of the ledge, by its foot, because she was too close. Ember jumped up, blowing fire at the crocodile as she did so. He howled, clutching his foot and dropping his other boomerang. After a second he lost his balance and fell over, disappearing and leaving a pile of gems in his place, which Ember climbed up and collected.

Ember then turned, encouraged by her triumph over the crocodile, and double jumped into the air, gliding down towards the half-breeds. They looked up at her excitedly; jaws open to clamp on her, eyes shining with murderous intent-

And then it was over. As soon as Ember flew close enough to them, she snorted fire at them, killing them instantly. Ember tried not to think about them as she walked through the next cave tunnel, how happy they'd seemed to be when she flew toward them, almost as if maybe wondering what it would be like to fly…

Pegs stuck up out of the ground in front of her, catching her off guard. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she continued through the cave, alert for any other booby traps. She came out on the other side to see some rats scrambling around below and some big flowers off to her right. She walked up close to a red one, marveling at its beauty. Suddenly it moved and seemed to growl, snapping at her.

"AAH! AN AUDREY II!" Ember screamed, torching it. The flower immediately wilted, dead. "Little Swamp…Little Swamp of Horrors…" Ember said to herself, shaking. She quickly burnt the other two plants that resembled the one that snapped at her, only to see a switch in the ground.

She jumped up twice and horn-dived into it, and heard a sound like rocks grating on each other. She looked over to see a wall of stone rise inside of a strange looking cave that resembled a creature's mouth jutting out of the rock. She jumped off the ledge and ran up to the cave mouth. There were still some bars there, keeping her out of the cave. Something red caught her attention out of the corner of her eye: Another bulls-eye target in the ground. She jumped over and horn-dived into it. The bars rose up, and Ember darted inside.

A crocodile stood inside, bone over his shoulder, looking bored. He stood outside of a barred room, as though guarding it. Ember darted towards him, flames shooting from her mouth and nose. The crocodile jumped upon seeing her, raising his bone to attack, but she got him before he got her. She collected the gems in her locket as the bars on the door rose into the ceiling. Ember noticed that a large square stone, which the crocodile had been standing on, rose up above the floor. It must have been a button, activated by weight. That's why he had to stand there, to keep the bars down, Ember concluded.

She walked over to another stone jutting out of the floor. She was certain this was a button too. She stood on it, but it wouldn't activate.

"Oh, come on!" She hissed, jumping up and down on the button.

An idea struck her. She double-jumped and horn-dove into the button, smashing it down into the floor. The entire wall in front of her rose into the ceiling, revealing a separate room.

There were axes swinging from the ceiling in the room, and several Gnorcs standing on top of ledges jutting from the walls. There was a light gem on the far side of the cave.

This looked way too dangerous to Ember.

Which is exactly why she jumped towards the first ledge. It was stupid, she knew, but she wanted to prove herself not only to others, but to herself…show herself that she could do everything Spyro could. Maybe even better.

She found it easy to avoid the swinging axes. She found it slightly more difficult, though, to not fall off the ledge before the Gnorc she torched disappeared. The darn pink monsters were too big! Luckily she didn't plummet over the edge. She made it to the other side without a hitch, grabbing the light gem, which dissolved into her locket. She thought it would be easy to return to the other side, having already killed all the Gnorcs to get over, but when she turned around, there were actually more Gnorcs appearing out of thin air. They wore metal armor to repel heat. Also, more axes were swinging across the cave, making it more perilous to fly.

_Someone up there is messing with me…_ Ember thought with a growl, looking angrily at the sky, _oh well. _

She leapt into the air and flew directly at the ax. By the time she made it there (within a few seconds) the ax had already swung up, making a clear path to fly through. She dove through the air at the first Gnorc, knocking off his armor, and landed precariously on the edge, for there wasn't much room on the ledge with the Gnorc on there. She blew fire at him as he prepared to strike at her, annihilating him and taking his gems. She did the same with the rest of the Gnorcs, almost plunging into the abyss once. She prepared to make the last jump to the entrance, leaping toward a clear spot in the air. Big mistake. The ax plunged down and hit into her, making a deep cut into her side. She yelped and started falling below. She didn't want to die yet! Her limbs scrambled as she fell through the air, clinging for something, anything to keep her from falling into the eternal darkness, but she was failing to grab anything. She started to scream in terror, when suddenly one paw landed on the edge of the ledge she'd been flying to. She hung precariously by a single paw, fragments of rock spilling down into the sea of darkness below. Ember swung her other paw onto the side of the ledge and started scrabbling on the side of the cliff with her back legs, trying to find a foothold to help pull herself up. She started pulling herself up with her front paws, reaching them further over the edge until she could see overtop of it. She could see light shining through now. The friendly rays of sunshine encouraged her, and she kept climbing. She flapped her wings and kept climbing with her hind legs, pushing herself over the edge. Finally she made it over, and she fell onto her stomach, panting for breath.

That was stupid of her. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She couldn't miss a detail like that if she wanted to survive. She had to be aware at all times! She would always have to remember to jump at the ax if she wanted to make it through without cutting herself. She turned her head and looked at the gash in her side. She started nursing the wound, licking and cleaning it to keep any infections that might have been on the ax from spreading.

She limped outside the cave and walked down. It was very painful for her. What she needed now, was comfort food. Comfort food- for humans, it means weight gain. For dragons, however, it meant almost instant healing. Ember wondered what fodder the swamp had. Her eyes settled on the overgrown rats running around the ground. She would have much preferred sheep, but they would do. Even hurt, dragons were still faster than the prey they set their sights on. She dashed after the rats, which shrieked and ran awkwardly away. Ember gained on the slowest one and pounced, catching it in her claws and proceeding to consume it. It didn't suffer long. Ember wasn't cruel.

Her side began repairing itself, and within a few minutes the wound was gone, replaced by a faint scar, which would disappear within a few hours. The flesh of another animal boosted a dragon's natural ability to heal itself, the fodder cells assimilating into the dragon cells, which could then go through mitosis and split more rapidly, producing more tissue.

Ember started off again, feeling better. She saw one of the weird plants that had tried to bite her earlier and sent a fireball at it, causing it to shrivel up and die with a growl. She began climbing the stairs built into the Cliffside, but stopped upon hearing a strange noise that sounded like a fire blast. She peeked over the edge of the last step to see a yellow double of the hungry plants. It shuddered, then opened to reveal a row of teeth, and a fire ball blasted up from its throat toward Ember. She ducked and it hit the wall, bursting into bits of flames, which quickly died. Ember jumped up and threw a fireball of her own at it. The plant made a weird, "Grah!" noise, and then burned into ash.

Ember jumped up and walked over to where it had stood. Some gems were buried in the ash. "Since when do plants have money?" Ember asked questioningly, then answered herself with a shrug. She collected the gems and then darted into the mouth of yet another cave, off to the right of the ashes of the strange yellow flower.

**I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a while. At first I wasn't sure where to go (momentary writer's block) and then, when I was ready to write again, something awful happened. My game data was at 99.9 percent. I had beaten the game, found all 80 dragon eggs, and 98 out of the 100 light gems. I was letting my brother play the game on my file, and…sniffle HE DELETED THE DATA BY STARTING A NEW GAME!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Needless to say, I didn't want to think about it for a while. What was worse was that it happened the day before my birthday. Yippee (cough sarcasm cough) Sorry again, part two of the Crocovile Swamp chapters coming soon…maybe…yeah, soon.**

**Sonic the Shapeshifter**


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